Northern Occurrences

New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 379, 27 September 1946, Page 30

Northern Occurrences

Although a typically southern bird, the black-browed mollymawk has been found in the northern hemisphere» Because many of the records date back to the days of sail, one has to be wary of attributing all of these records to the flight of the birds. All albatrosses are

captured without much difficulty on a hook trailed behind a slow-moving ship, and not all the birds so captured found their way into the cook’s pot. Some we know were taken aboard and liberated far to the north of their usual range. In 1878 a black-browed mollymawk, now in an English museum, was shot near Spitzbergen in latitude 80 degrees north. This bird, despite its antarctic affinities, had therefore strayed far closer to the north than the south pole. Far more remarkable and, indeed, almost like a fairy tale, is the thoroughly substantiated story told by Murphy in his great work The Oceanic Birds of South America. It concerns another black-browed mollymawk which lived among the gannets on an island of the Faeroes group, between the Shetland Islands and Iceland, for 34 years. It was constantly seen amongst the gannets on their November emigration and returned with them in February. By the inhabitants of the region it was called the "King of the Gannets." Finally it was shot and is now preserved in the museum at Copenhagen. Just how it reached such a northern latitude, remained there and failed to make south again, is rather: remarkable. The length of time it was there provides us with: an interesting clue to the great age members of the albatross group must. reach. As Murphy (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) says, what a pity that this lonely waif, which had associated itself with its nearest counterpart in the North Atlantic, was not studied at close range by an ornithologist who could record all its reactions to life in different surroundings and company. Heavy Mortality Mention was made in the preceding article on mollymawks of the heavy casualties the birds can suffer through failure of their normal food supply and for other reasons. Other factors which have affected the breeding of these birds in the sub-antarctic, include the various animals introduced by man to provide sustenance for castaways. On the Campbells, the wild sheep who have descended from those left when the sheep-run was given up in 1927 are attracted to the mollymawk colonies by the lush growth of native grasses and other plants. Feeding right to the edges of the nests, they cause the chicks to over-balance and fall out, either to the muddy walks or even over ledges to other parts of the colony. The majority of them perish miserably for they are unable to regain their nest and are seemingly not found by their parents. Many were rescued by the coastWatchers on the Campbells but, as these visits were rare, not much could be done except to shoot off a few of the sheep. On the Auckland Islands the position is even worse, for large and always hungry wild pigs get amongst the colonies of the: shy mollymawk at, the Western Entrance to Carnley Harbour. They cause tremendous losses to the birds in eggs and young chicks. The destruction of the wild pigs is the only remedy but, as the colony is situated in a remote locality and seldom visited, little good can be done. The shy mollymawks at this place are now confined to steep and inaccessible faces on exposed cliffs which pigs cannot reach. Fortunately Disappointment Island, in the Aucklands group, is also a breeding ground for this and another species. Peculiar Colony « At North Cape on Campbell Island there is a colony situated in a strange position. Composed entirely of black‘browed mollymawks, it is seemingly an overflow from the densely populated ledges on the cliffs below. On a small flat at the top of the 800-foot cliffs there is a small tarn and on a low bar and on the large stones in this shallow pond the birds have built ‘their nests. Birds coming in to relieve their mates have to paddle through water and to stand in it alongside the nests. All mud and straw for nest-building has to be carried some distance. The snowy plumage of the birds reflected in the muddy water gives this colony a peculiar appearance, and I have never seen another colony like it among all those I have visited. Mollymawk eggs are quite large, much larger than a duck’s egg. Only one egg is laid and it is white with a zone of reddish brown spots or blotches at the larger end. On some of the islands off South America the eggs are regularly taken to supplement the diet of sealers and othefs living in those regions. They are esteemed good eating. Fortunately for the mollymawks on the Auckland

and Campbell Islands, the food supply of the men stationed there was adequate and none needed to. be taken. The distance of the colonies from the camps, too, helped! The main article in the ‘diet of the mollymawks is squid or cuttle and this mollusc must be present in sub-antarctic waters in vast numbers to supply the wants.of the millions of -sea-birds and of the huge seals which prey upon ‘it. Strangely enough, few are seen in the waters about the islands, but alongside mollymawk and albatross nests one finds large heaps of. the .indigestible horny beaks of the. squid which the birds have ejected.